1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to speech interpretation, and, more particularly, to an automatic interpretation service for translating speech pronounced by a user in a first language into a second language and outputting the translated speech in audio.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application No. 125539/1999 discloses a compact hand-operable speech interpretation apparatus that translates speech entered in a first language by way of a built-in microphone into a second language and outputs the translated speech in audio through a loudspeaker arranged opposite the microphone. However, such a speech interpretation apparatus, because it is a dedicated apparatus that cannot be used for other purposes, increases the total number of a user's personal effects when the user carries it for actual use, for example, on a lengthy trip.
Japanese Patent Application No. 65424/1997 discloses a speech interpretation system using a combination speech recognition server and wireless mobile terminal. However, as this speech interpretation system allows the user to input nearly any sentence, it does not achieve high accuracy of interpretation, due to the tremendous number of possible spoken sentences, and the difficulty in finding a speech recognizer that can adequately understand a great number of those possible sentences.
Therefore, the need exists for a speech interpretation device and system that does not increase inconvenience while travelling, such as by adding to the number of personal effects, and which achieves improved accuracy of translation over existing methods.